"Whoop! they're going to hold!" exclaimed Bobolink, in great glee.
Paul believed so himself, and a smile came to his face that up to now had looked careworn and anxious; for a dreadful catastrophe had been hovering over them, he felt certain.
And the ropes did make good, holding in spite of that fierce drag. The water soon got down to about its normal level, when the pull upon the hawsers ceased, and everything seemed to settle back into the old rut.
But the boys had had quite enough of Cedar Island. It was water-soaked now, and offered little attraction to them for camping. Paul suggested that they leave the cove and head for a certain section of the main shore which, on account of being much higher than the island, had not been overflowed.
There was not a single voice raised in opposition, and so they started the motors and with a series of derisive sounds that seemed almost like chuckles the boats said goodbye to Cedar Island. Landing they found a splendid spot for the erection of the tents, and before the coming of night the scouts were as snugly fixed as though nothing had happened to disturb them.
The injured professor declared that he meant to stick by Paul until his messenger arrived with a carriage and a doctor by way of the road, which ran only a half mile away from the lake.
He expressed himself satisfied with the work Paul had done on his arm, and believed it to be the right thing.
They hoped to spend a quiet night. There would be no bomb explosions in the heavens to disturb them, at least. Mr. Jameson had already explained to the boys that, if they had happened to be awake at the time of that first tremendous shock, they must have seen by the glare in the heavens that it was a new kind of aerial bomb that had been fired; and possibly under such conditions some one of the scouts would have guessed the truth. But when they crept out of the tents there was nothing to be seen aloft.
Luckily, these wide-awake boys could accommodate themselves to their surroundings. Their former experiences had made most of them quickwitted, resolute and cheerful under difficulties that might have daunted most lads.
Although they had received a tremendous shock because of the numerous remarkable occurrences that had taken place since their landing on Cedar Island, now that their troubles seemed to have departed, most of the scouts were just as full of life and good-natured "chaff" as ever.